What Does Your Church Tell Your Guests?

Tim H. Swanson

Nick hates church. He considers himself an atheist, and he thinks spirituality is creepy and counter-intuitive. But, he's in a bad place. You see, his wife just walked out on him, and he can't stop his crippling addiction to alcohol. He feels hopeless and lonely. Oh yeah, and he's coming to your church this weekend. Sorry, I almost forgot to mention that. 

Nick's neighbor is a regular attender at your church who has been diligently working to build a relationship with Nick in order to share his faith. Now your church member has taken the big step, he's invited Nick to your church. Normally, Nick would politely say, "no" to this kind of thing and scoff at a spiritual person when he turns away. But this week Nick is at a low point, and he agreed to go. 

So, how will your church make a guy like Nick feel? He is walking into the auditorium with a few preconceived notions:

1. Christians are stupid. They believe something that doesn't make rational sense. The idea that a man could die and raise from the dead by his own power is ludicrous.

2. Christianity is a sham. It's a worldwide organization that dupes people out of their money.

3. I'm not safe at church. They'll judge a guy like me at church. They judge everybody who doesn't believe the way they do.

On Sunday morning, Nick will walk through the doors and everything he sees will work to either reinforce or defuse his hangups about God's people. And I'm talking about more than just what happens in your service. 

Atlanta pastor, Andy Stanley, frequently and correctly points out that you begin making impressions on new people when they first enter your parking lot. Then you continually build trust or lose it with every little step along the way: Parking lot greeters, children's ministry check-in, your coffee shop barista, ushers, lobby furniture, seats in the auditorium, stage design, style of music, personalities of people on stage, etc. And notice that all these items have one thing in common - they have nothing to do with the gospel. They make up the experience that people have on Sunday morning. And that experience is entirely different than the content (i.e. the gospel). Of course the presentation of God's Word is the whole point of getting together on Sunday. If we weren't going to engage with Jesus, there'd be no point in doing any of it. However, all those little 'experience' things that people come across between their car and their seat will play a role in engaging or distracting people. 

CHALLENGE
Have a look at your Sunday morning experience, and I'm talking about more than just the hour or hour and a half that your actual service consumes. As you review the things you typically do, ask yourself this question - "What message does my church send before the message?" Every environment, ministry, person, and detail work together to make people feel more comfortable or more uncomfortable. 

When (not if) you find things, don't feel discouraged. Instead, begin a list of things that could be improved to assist in helping your guests feel like they're in a safe environment. The ultimate goal is not to look cool or trendy, although that may be what your campus needs. The ultimate goal is to create a space that allows people to engage with Jesus when the band gets up to play, and the pastor preaches the message. 

HERE'S WHAT I'M DOING
Once a year, I rip apart my stage and redo the backdrop. The goal is to create a clean, creative backdrop that draws people's attention to the stage, but doesn't upstage anybody who is sharing valuable information. For that reason, I tell my creative teams that our goal with stage design is "stunning simplicity". 

This was last year's design.
I'll post the new one when it's finished.

Redesigning your stage is just one simple way to create a more welcoming experience for people on Sunday morning. There are tens of thousands of things you can do. Some are more expensive than others, and at any given time there are things that cost little or no money. If you want to learn more about this topic, check out Andy Stanley's book, Deep and Wide, for some brilliant ideas on how to create a church that unchurched people love to attend. If you're new to the idea of stage design, check out this blog - churchstagedesignideas.com. 

What things have you done to your Sunday experience to make people feel welcome?